little egret of Toba Lake

It was the first late afternoon on Samosir island, Toba Lake, North Sumatra. We were lazying by the pool near the edge of the lake. Out of nowhere this Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), or burung bangau kecil, also known as kuntul kecil in Indonesian, came close. Apparently it was preying for the abundant pora-pora fish (Mystacoleucus padangensis).

It was not afraid of us humans, but it would fly off when I was getting too close. I lowered myself on the ground on my stomach, changed my lens to 70-200mm, and by doing this I was able to creep forward closer and took quite a number of pictures.

The indonesian Little Egret has an all black feet. This one with yellow fingers is a migrant from mainland Asia.